Up and Comers Music

Finding the Grace in Goodbye

Eileen Carey has built a career on navigating the spot between Country Pop and Adult Contemporary, so it’s nice to see her first single of the year pursue a different kind of navigation – the space between romantic ideal and realistic grace. Written alongside Lily Wilson, the storyline forgoes the typical messy, deprecating, bitter theatrics of a breakup song and instead suggests a mutual, quiet letting go. With an arrangement that feels as soft and comforting as the narrative, it’s a song that wears its melancholia with a lightness, and it’s lovely to listen to.

Carey’s vocal delivery is clean, carrying an unmistakable country edge that is part of her signature. Beneath her voice, electric guitar-work weaves through the melody, providing a gentle counter that helps to keep the melancholy from sinking into despair! Produced by Travis Allen in Nashville, the instrumentation leaves plenty of air for the central line to hit home: “This is where we both begin.” Instead of treating the breakup as a wreckage, the song frames it as an act of shared restoration – and it’s refreshing. Most breakup songs we encounter are either full of sorrow, rage, or a sense of righteous vengeance. In this case, Carey flips the musical norm on its head.

If a farewell grants both people their freedom back, can we really call it a heartbreak? 

Stream “This Is Where” and follow Eileen Carey on Spotify and social media to stay up to date. Whether you have experienced a breakup or not, whether adult contemporary and country pop are your go-tos or not, there is something uplifting to discover here that universally applies. 

Follow our Up and Comers playlist to discover more emerging acts you’ve never heard of. We know your listening routine could use a shake-up.